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What have you been watching / reading this week? (Anime/Manga)
What have you been watching and reading this week? You don't need to give us a whole essay if you don't want to, but please write something! Feel free to talk about something you saw that was cool, something that was bad, ask for recommendations, or anything else you can think of.
If you want to, feel free to find the thing you're talking about and link to its pages on Anilist, MAL, or any other database you use!
Watching Shiboyugi again. Was on vacation last week, so I'm watching two episodes today! Still a genuinely beautiful anime, though Episode 7 left a lot more action "implied" than shown onscreen. One character's death, which was apparently detailed in the light novel and manga, was revealed only via a single shot showing several bodies. It felt like an episode got skipped, honestly.
Episode 8 brings the start of Candle Woods, which was the second arc in the light novel/manga. I read the manga version, and from that, I can now tell the anime actually veers away from death a lot. In this game, one character attacks a teammate so the rest can use her to practice killing. The manga showed the attack explicitly, but the anime cuts to the victim already on the ground and the attacker dropping a knife. The manga also showed the attacker's face when she realized she was the only player on her team with any experience, showing her horror, while the anime has a wide shot of everyone as silhouettes.
The result is that her character feels a lot different. In the manga (and presumably the light novel) she had this frantic, desperate energy to her, but the anime makes her come across as more cool-headed and pragmatic. That is how she portrayed herself to the other players, so it's like we're seeing her as outsiders now. We only glimpse her real feelings at the end when she's alone and quietly freaks out.
In conclusion, the anime seems to focus more on the philosophical and introspective bits of the story rather than deaths. The pacing is a lot slower in some parts because of that, while other bits feel more rushed. Personally, I like the atmosphere of the anime. It's really unique and oddly serene given it's a death game series. Even the brutal fights feel almost peaceful (and it's still brutal, got to see a girl bite off someone's fingers during a fight). But it does lose some things with how it doesn't really show many deaths on-screen, just the aftermaths.
That said, these two episodes bring up some thoughts on "justified" fan service in anime that I just might create a whole new post to discuss. After all, not often you can see an anime with girls in towels and bathrobes or bunny girl outfits without feeling overly gratuitous and gross.
Back before studios worked out the present meta of mass producing anime that directly taps into audience anxieties and fantasies regarding their place in society (I wish I could escape to another world where what I do matters), work (the leader who kicked me out of the
companyparty will beg to take me back when they see my true talent) and reaching middle age (it's not too late, I can still become a hot uncle sword saint and accumulate a harem in the countryside), you'd sometimes see the opposite where a studio would pitch an insane concept which no audience had ever asked for. Enter Gankutsuou, Gonzo's 2004 adaptation of Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo - but it's sci-fi with aliens, spaceships and cool giant mechs.This is one of those weird Gonzo shows like Final Fantasy Unlimited which as far as I can recall received no appreciation when it aired, but on the rare occasions it's mentioned on forums decades later seems to be remembered with an almost universal fondness.
Visually, it's striking. Almost every surface is filled with textures and patterns, none of which shifts in proper perspective, giving each scene the feel of a collage. In contrast, the character designs and animation are simple and loose. The net result is like staring into a kaleidoscope.
The sci-fi aspect aside, the story is reasonably faithful to the book, although it kicks off right from the point when the count first appears on the scene. The writing is also easy to follow and you get a pretty clear idea of who the characters are and what their motivations are very quickly.
Definitely worth a look for fans of unusual anime.
Still working through Lone Wolf and Cub, a quarter the way through volume 12. The series continues to be profound/poignant, and I'm really loving it. Hard to believe I'm less than half-way through (there's 28 volumes total), part of me worries the story will "end" but then get dragged out for a while to keep up sales, but I guess I'll see!
Just watched all of Milky Subway. It was really fun. They do a good job of conveying all the relevant information in a short time frame. The personalities of all the characters are immediately apparent.